Rogue Project
by Skerdi Kat
Summary: When a plucky intern named Mona Lisa becomes a victim of experimental ooze, she is forced to adjust to life as a mutant. But the man who mutated her, thanks to a foolish deal with the Shredder, has a lot more unpleasant surprises in store for her.
1. The Late Shift

**Rogue Project. **

**Summary: **When a plucky intern named Mona Lisa becomes a victim of experimental ooze, she is forced to adjust to life as a mutant. But the man who mutated her is dangerously obsessed with keeping his hands on his most prized experiment.

**Chapter 1: The Late Shift**

**Disclaimer: I definitely do not own the ninja turtles. If I did, I'd make damn sure Mona Lisa was in more than one stinking episode. Hell if I know who owns them now. The point is I'm not making any profit off of this story, so enjoy. :)**

-o-

When Dr. Filch asked the interns if they were willing to work late, they all nervously blurted out excuses on the spot and left the laboratory as quickly as they could. All except Mona Lisa, of course. She'd practically fantasized about working extra hours, and gladly accepted the chance to work one-on-one with her brilliant boss.

But first things first, she needed her caffeine fix.

Around 10 pm, Mona stumbled back into the lab, finishing off the most legally caffeinated thing she could find. Earlier, she'd choked down a Red Bull to be more alert for lab work and observations, but she'd also developed a dangerously high tolerance to the stuff and the average energy drink stopped having much effect on her.

_Feh. Red Bull gives you wings? _She thought bitterly, _Crap. Total crap._

Now she chugged a "_Pumped_!" energy drink and sighed with relief as it kicked in. It was just what she needed to get through the night.

Mona Lisa was a twenty-two year old college senior working vigorously to finish her degree double majoring in physics and genetics. She graduated high school as the valedictorian and was determined to keep that record going. She was at the top of her game, about to earn a degree from a prestigious college _and _she would no doubt graduate summa cum laude.

Mona took great pride in her hard work, and the achievements she'd earned from it. She was one of four interns hand-picked by Dr. Phineas Filch himself

She'd never guess that it was precisely _her_ hard work that would change everything.

As she made her way in, Dr. Filch greeted her with a smile. "Good evening, Mona Lisa. I hope this late shift isn't interfering with your schoolwork. It's completely optional, you know."

"Oh, of course I understand," Mona replied, "And don't worry, Dr. Filch, I finished my homework _hours _ago."

This was a complete lie, of course. She still had what felt like a truckload of homework to do for her very last physics class and chapters upon chapters to study for organic chemistry. Such was the demanding life of a diligent college student. But she was spending this time working under _the Dr. Phineas Filch himself_. Mona was absolutely certain that Dr. Vick and Dr. Kim would completely understand. In fact, she imagined they would scold her if she even _thought_ of passing up such opportunities. Besides, she was enough of a pro by now to pull another all-nighter. It wasn't like she hadn't had to do these things before.

"Actually," Dr. Filch declared, "I'm glad you're the one who ended up staying with me for the late shift. I have to say, you're one of the brightest scientists I've ever worked with."

_Brilliant_? It took all of Mona's willpower not to gush right there. _And he called me a _scientist_. Is this even real life_? She kept it together outside, but in her mind she performed an extensive victory dance that would make a Rocketeer proud. "Haha, Dr. Filch, I'm not _that _smart, I just work really har-"

"On the contrary," her boss interrupted, "you _are _very intelligent. You see, Mona," he began walking and motioned for her to follow, "it was _your _labwork and _your _reports and findings that helped me to perfect my formula. Had you never worked for me, I might never have completed my dream project."

"Dream project, sir?" Mona inquired.

"Yes. A long time ago, I worked for a highly secret government company known to the public as TGRI. I was helping them work on a classified project, but I quit shortly after my son, Ezra passed away to branch out and do my own labwork. After years of struggling, I finally decided to branch out even further.

"I thought maybe having young and open minds around would help me to discover exactly what I was missing, and I was right. It was your brilliant contributions that helped me to work the kinks out of my project. Tonight, I was planning on running a test with my new formula for the very first time, and I wanted my interns, specifically you, there to witness it."

"I…" the girl was stunned. "I don't know what to say. But of _course _I'll watch you run the experiment." Mona had literally never felt such excitement in her life. She grinned like the Cheshire cat, and feared she could wake up from her scientific Wonderland at any moment.

Finally, Dr. Filch led her into a room. It was bright, white, and completely empty, save for one lab table with a glass cage and a canister of ooze on top of it. They walked over to it.

"Truth be told, if all goes well tonight, I'll definitely have a special guaranteed position open for you at the lab, Mona Lisa."

Now, Mona's heart just about leaped out of her chest, and it wasn't from the excess caffeine. Did he mean it? Did he really want _her _working full time at the laboratory? Discreetly, Mona pinched herself, ecstatic when it hurt.

He reached into the cage and picked up the small lizard. Though she could identify many animals, Mona Lisa did not recognize this particular specimen. Was it even a lizard? A salamander of some kind? She honestly couldn't tell.

"You're not squeamish, are you?" Dr. Filch handed the creature off to her.

Mona Lisa? Squeamish? Psh, she was a _scientist_. She didn't have _time _to be squeamish. Mona took the little lizard from Dr. Filch and gently held it in her palm. She watched as he pulled a small needle from his pocket and flicked it.

"Oh, are you going to use that to sedate the experiment?" Mona asked.

"As a matter of fact," Dr. Filch answered, the corners of his lips upturning into a smirk, "I am."

Before Mona could react, he jammed the needle into her neck. At once, everything went fuzzy, and she dropped Dr. Filch's lizard thing. Before she blacked out completely and fainted on the laboratory floor, the last thing Mona remembered was Dr. Filch catching her just as her body went totally limp…

-o-


	2. Experiment Gone Rogue

**Chapter 2: Experiment Gone Rogue**

** In which we find out Mona's fate. Woo boy this chapter turned out far longer than I expected.**

"He's late."

"I _noticed_,Raph."

"I _knew _I should have stayed behind to help him clean the lair. He probably gave up and started goofing off."

The three brothers waited not-so-patiently for Michelangelo in April's apartment. They unanimously agreed that since Mikey somehow managed to avoid chores for two months, Leo would give him the honor of cleaning the whole lair. Then, he was supposed to meet them at April's after he was done, but their brother was currently an hour late.

"Somebody call his shell cell." Raphael complained, "Why are we still waitin' around for him?"

Leo did just that and dialed for Michelangelo.

-o-

As New York bustled below, the youngest turtle hopped from rooftop to rooftop, leaping and flipping and cartwheeling just because he knew he could.

After being cooped up in the lair by himself doing nothing but chores, Mikey felt like he had more than earned some serious playtime. Never mind the two months where he had somehow managed to avoid doing any work at all…

Mikey did gymnastics movements on a fire escape that would stun even the most talented of human acrobats. The wind rushed past as he sprinted down the dark alleyways, causing his bright bandana to flow behind him. With no difficulty at all, he practically scaled the buildings. One would think he was showing off or perhaps putting on a performance if Michelangelo wasn't effortlessly slinking into the shadows. On a good day, his natural athleticism shined, and he could likely go toe-to-toe with even Leonardo without putting in much energy. Unfortunately, his raw talent rarely made up for how much he slacked on training.

He continued to treat New York like one large jungle-gym until he heard his shell cell ring. Michelangelo finally stopped on a rooftop to answer it.

"Mikey, where _are _you?" An irritated Leo on the other end greeted him, "You were supposed to meet us here an _hour _ago."

Oops, had it actually been that long? The youngest turtle wasn't really known for managing his time well. He smiled sheepishly at his brother. "Sorry, dudes. I was just getting some fresh air."

"Yeah, well, playtime's over," Raphael replied aggressively in the background, "now get your shell down before I—"

A car door slammed, distracting Mikey from hearing the rest of Raph's threat. Curious, he walked to the edge and leaned over the building. It was probably nothing, but none of the brothers, not even the goofball Michelangelo, was willing to take any chances.

A man in a labcoat hopped out of his van. He was tall, but lanky with stringy brown hair. Certainly not the most attractive human Michelangelo had ever seen, not that the turtle entirely understood the concept of human beauty. Rather than focus on the man's looks, Mikey instead observed how suspicious he seemed.

The man slid the backdoor of his van open, taking caution not to make any noise when it clicked into place. He made a conspicuous effort to stop and look around, making certain that nobody was nearby to see what he was doing… _whatever _he was doing. Something bothered Mikey. Instinct told him to keep an eye on this character, at least until he could prove he wasn't up to anything illegal.

"Guys," he whispered into his shell cell, "major creep alert on Eastman Street. I need to keep an eye on him. I'll call you if there's any trouble. Probably nothing. I'll be at April's as soon as I'm done checkin' up on this guy."

Before Leo (or Raph) could argue, Mikey hung up and continued spying on the man, who had propped open the back door of the building after he surveyed the alley one last time. Someone this cautious was up to something, no exceptions. Once he stepped inside the building, Michelangelo jumped down, careful not to make a peep. He kneeled by the dumpster, blending in seamlessly with the shadows. He tried to look for some kind of label on the building, but found nothing.

_Ok, mister sneaky science man, what exactly are you up to_?

Maybe he had been reading too many comic books. Maybe he was too used to being a weirdness magnet of unparalleled proportions. But Michelangelo was too stubborn to chalk it up to paranoia.

And when the man stepped out of the door, Mikey's breath halted. At a closer range, he recognized him. This wasn't just any sneaky science man. This was Dr. Phineas Filch, the famed genetics researcher, creeping around in a dark alley like a common gang member.

Now, Michelangelo knew almost nothing of Dr. Filch's work, but he'd certainly heard Donatello gush over the man's discoveries. He recognized him from the brief time he'd seen the doctor on the news, when he quit some big secret government company to start his own lab in New York. Despite the fact that he no longer worked for a shady corporate organization, Dr. Filch's work was still quite private, and he only released data when he was absolutely sure it was perfect and groundbreaking.

_Man_, _Donnie would geek out so hard right now_. Michelangelo, however, focused on something entirely different. Dr. Filch rolled out a cart with what looked like a body wrapped in a sheet. Either whatever was under that sheet just so happened to look like a human form, or Mikey's suspicions were correct and this brainiac was up to something _incredibly_ shady.

And suddenly, he saw it.

If Michelangelo had blinked, he would have missed it. The tip of a long, green tail poked out from under the cover just before Dr. Filch had rolled it over into his van. He surveyed the area one last time, but still failed to notice Mikey. Someone was in too much of a rush.

When he rolled the cart back inside, Mikey took his opportunity and hurried over to the van, sliding open the other back door. If he could just grab what was under that sheet and get the shell out of there, he would be home free.

He uncovered the face of the other creature, and swore his heart stopped beating for a split second at what he saw.

With her green skin and combination of reptilian (amphibious, perhaps?) and mammalian features, this creature, this _female_, was unmistakably a mutant. Michelangelo, shocked to see another mutant— a _girl_ mutant—wasted too much time staring in awe. Dr. Filch's footsteps interrupted, and it was far too late to drag her away. Besides, she was probably too heavy.

Panicking slightly, Mikey scrambled out of the van. He tried to sync up shutting the van door with Dr. Filch shutting the laboratory door to remain unnoticed. Then, he ran around to the back and silently made his way to the roof of the van. If the doctor was going to take this mutant somewhere, then he was going to take Michelangelo with him, whether he liked it or not.

-o-

"He… he hung up."

"I _noticed_, Leo." Raph mocked, "So call him back!"

"He said there was someone suspicious that he was gonna check out. I trust him on this one. Michelangelo knows what he's doing." Leo knew that he and his brothers had taken out enough goons to where one questionable guy in an alleyway should be no trouble for his brother. Instead of treating him like a child, Leo wanted to have faith that their youngest brother could take care of it… for now.

Raph, however, grew more irritated and impatient. "You're tellin' me we're gonna sit around and wait even longer for Mikey to show up because he sees one shady lookin' dude in a dark New York alley? Big surprise. He's probably just gonna go goof off some more! Call him back and tell him to get his tail over here before I kick it."

"Raph, I have to give Mikey the benefit of the doubt. If he says he saw someone suspicious and he wants to take care of it, I'm going to take his word that he saw someone suspicious and he's _going to take care of it_. Understood?"

Raphael growled in response. He flopped on April's couch. "Ten minutes. If he's not here in ten minutes I'm calling him back myself."

Leonardo and Donatello sighed. They could only hope at this point that Mikey was capable of taking out a lone troublemaker.

-o-

When Dr. Filch finally stopped driving, he parked by an abandoned warehouse.

_Big surprise_. Mikey thought. _The bad guys always wanna do their dirty work in dark, empty warehouses_.

But to his surprise, the warehouse wasn't empty. A small group of Foot ninja stepped out. Mikey suppressed an exasperated groan. Not these guys again… One of them, presumably the leader of that particular group, stepped forward.

"You have proof?" he asked.

"Of course." Dr. Filch replied with confidence. As he opened the van, Mikey slunk down awkwardly, terrified that he would be prematurely seen. "She's right here."

The 'leader' made a hand motion, and another Foot soldier stepped forward with a cart. Unlike the one Dr. Filch used, this one had straps used to tie people down, and _that _certainly wasn't a good sign. They pulled the sheet off of the girl and lifted her onto the cart.

"She mutated almost immediately," Dr. Filch added, "and there's absolutely nothing wrong with her… well, besides being a hideous humanoid salamander, of course. Biologically, everything is functioning just as well, if not _better _than before."

"We shall see about that." The leader declared as they rolled her inside the warehouse.

Dr. Filch suddenly objected. "Now, hold on there. Your leader promised me that if I delivered—"

"Our leader _promised _you nothing." The head ninja snapped. "You were merely instructed to bring your mutant here so that we could run a few tests. If your creature here isn't just for show, then the Foot clan will uphold their end of the bargain. If it's defective, then we are to dispose of it… and _you_." He gripped the handle of his katana and unsheathed it to prove his point.

That was it. Michelangelo couldn't listen to anymore without intervening. Besides, he counted barely a dozen Foot ninjas. He could take these guys out no problem. "I'm afraid,  
he stated, standing up on the van, "I can't let you dudes do that."

He jumped down, kicking the ninja on cart duty square in the chest. He dropped like a sack of potatoes.

"What in the _world_?!" Dr. Filch, stunned to see another mutant, stepped backward as the Foot swarmed Michelangelo.

"Move the creature inside!" The leader instructed one of them. "We will take care of this one."

Mikey fought off at least six ninjas while trying to keep his eye on the girl mutant. Luckily, he could tell they had not been prepared for one of their enemy to interrupt their plans, and there weren't many of them around to fend him off. With ease, he moved swiftly at them, knocking each of them down with no more than one or two punches.

As the Foot ninja before him groaned in pain on the hard cement, Mikey taunted them with his words, "Aw, is that it, guys? I didn't even have to bust out my nunchaku!" He leaped over the bodies and hurried to the building.

Inside, he saw three other Foot soldiers moving the girl from her cart to a dissection table. The leader noticed him right away. Before Michelangelo could rush over and pound the snot out of them, he pulled out his katana and held it at the mutant girl's throat.

"Don't step any closer. I have no qualms with killing this girl. And you wouldn't want any harm to come to her, would you?" The leader specifically humanized his victim to deter Michelangelo from risking her death.

It worked. The turtle stopped in his tracks.

"That's a good turtle. Now, why don't you drop those weapons, and we can work something out?"

Michelangelo had _no _intention of bargaining with this man, but he did as he was told, anyway, removing his nunchaku from his belt and throwing them to the floor. Head Ninja motioned to the other two, who rushed over and held Mikey's arms behind his back.

"Where did she come from? Why do you need her? What are you planning on doing to her?"

"That's not exactly any of your business, is it?" Head Ninja put away his katana and paced over. "If you turtles would quit sticking your noses where they don't belong, we wouldn't have nearly as much animosity toward you. But, unfortunately, you _do _stick your ugly noses where they don't belong, and that's where we have trouble. You've thwarted our efforts for far too long. Now, we've decided to fight fire with fire." He finally stopped, barely a foot in front of Michelangelo. "And with the help of that pathetic, bumbling Dr. Filch, we're going to de_stroy_ you turtles once and for all!"

He quickly raised his katana, but he didn't count on Michelangelo being faster. In one swift movement, the turtle grabbed the wrist of the ninja to his left, swinging him into the leader and knocking them both out of his way. Then, before the goon to his right could react, Mikey hit him with a solid uppercut to the jaw that knocked him down. He sprinted over to the table and picked up the girl mutant.

"I'm gonna get you outta here, I promise." He reassured her unconscious body.

But as he ran to the exit, Head Ninja, though hurt and slightly groggy, threw a carefully aimed ninja star at Michelangelo's calf.

He went down in an undignified crash, sending the girl flying. She hit the floor with a hard '_thunk_' and even rolled a few times.

And sleeping beauty finally awoke.

Mona Lisa had a _pounding _headache. She groaned in pain and clutched at her forehead, wincing at just how much it freaking _hurt_. It felt as though someone opened her brain, put rocks inside, and took a bat to her face just before vigorously shaking her. She'd never had a migraine like this.

"We made a deal, turtle!" Head Ninja shouted. "And now the girl's gonna die!"

_What_? _Die_? _Who _was _that_? Before Mona could even blink she saw a strange masked man pull out a ninja star and throw it in her direction. It should have hit her square between the eyes and killed her, but something else knocked her back to the ground instead. Mikey had jumped on top of the girl to cover her, and the ninja star landed on his shell. Mona looked up at the face of her savior.

And _screamed_.

It was high and shrill and undignified, but Mona couldn't have cared less. She screamed in the face of the man—no, the _turtle_—who saved her.

"Hey um, if you could, like, _not _shriek at me like a banshee that would be awesome. I'll explain everything once I take care of these Foot ninja." Truth be told, Mikey had more questions for her than she had for him, but first he had to get her out of there alive.

_I'm dreaming_. Mona thought in a panic. _I'm obviously dreaming_. But if she was still asleep, then _why_ did she have such a pounding headache?

One of the ninja stood up and prepared to attack Mikey again, but the leader stopped him. "This creature's not worth it. If that idiot scientist is telling the truth and he's perfected the formula then he can do it again. And _this _time, he can do it in the safety of Foot headquarters. Retreat."

They ran for the exit. Just before leaving, Head Ninja pulled out a small black sphere and threw it to the ground. It exploded in a cloud of heavy smoke and left a trail of fire blocking the only exit.

"That," Mikey noted, playing the role of Captain Obvious, "might be a problem."

"What's… what's happening? Where are we? Who _are _you? Who were those _people _and what did they _want_?" Mona Lisa fired off questions so fast that Michelangelo couldn't keep up with her. Honestly, though, he had too many other things on his mind.

"Ok, I would completely understand if you wanted to have a personal meltdown. However, I'd appreciate it if you'd look past the weirdness of this situation for five minutes so that we can get out of here alive." Mikey told her.

Surprisingly, the girl smiled at him. "Yes, of course. Obviously, this is a dream. I knew I should have bought another can of _Pumped! _energy. I must have fallen asleep doing homework or something, so I'm just going to do whatever you say until I wake up from this insanely bizarre dream, which should be any minute."

Michelangelo didn't have the heart to tell her that this was, in fact, real life. He also would have preferred she stay calm. So he kept her in the dark.

Just then, Mikey's shell cell rang. Raphael greeted him with a barrage of insults and threats from the other end.

"I _really _can't talk right now, bro! I'm in a burning warehouse, so if you dudes could get down here and help us, that would be _awesome_."

"Wait, what?!" Raph's tone immediately switched to concern.

"Hurry up and get down here so that you can _save my shell_!"

"Look out!"

While Mikey had been occupied screaming at Raphael to send help, the fire spread dangerously fast. The walls, boarded up over the years with cheap wooden planks, had caught fire more quickly than expected. One beam dangling from the ceiling began to fall just after the fire engulfed it. It headed straight for Michelangelo.

Mona sprang into action as quickly as her new legs would allow. She ran toward Mikey and gave him a good solid push that easily knocked the turtle off of his feet. Instead of hitting Mikey's head, the plank caught Mona Lisa's calf and began burning the flesh on her leg.

She fell over on top of Michelangelo just before she felt the initial sting. Her flesh bubbled and turned black and then the excruciating pain finally began to radiate throughout her entire body.

Pain? But… this was a dream. There was no possible way she should be feeling _pain_…

Unless… unless she really _was _trapped in a burning warehouse with a giant turtle stuck in the body of some kind of lizard and on the verge of meeting Death.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to be back in her apartment, sleeping safe and sound under the covers of her own bed. Too shocked to scream, Mona reacted by going completely silent and unresponsive.

"Aw, shell," Mikey did everything not to panic. He cringed at the site of her bubbling leg. "C'mon, we gotta _go_." When Mona sat practically comatose, but with eyes open, Michelangelo scooped her up and ran to the other side of the warehouse.

After gently setting her down, the turtle went to work, tearing away furiously at old planks. He could feel splinters working their way under the skin on his hands, but he didn't care. Splinters were absolute paradise compared to burning to death in a shady warehouse. If he made it out of this alive, he wouldn't even whine when one of his brothers would have to prick the skin and pluck them out of his hands.

Smoke rose rapidly. At this rate, it was far more of a concern than the actual fire. Almost immediately, it began to nauseate the turtle. Mikey held his breath as he finally tore out an opening. He lifted Mona Lisa and put her through first. As a thick black cloud took over the warehouse, he finally managed to pull himself through the hole and out of the warehouse. Again, he picked up Mona and ran from the fire.

When he heard the screech of tires, Mikey stopped. He made his way to the other side of the warehouse to find his brothers jumping out of the turtle van and rushing up to the fire.

"Guys!" he screamed, but the sudden strain on his vocal chords caused him to cough and sputter. Even a short time in the smoke had its effect.

Raphael, despite his earlier irritation with his little brother, sprinted over to him first. "Mikey! Are you alright, bro?"

"Yeah," he coughed out, "just had to, you know, do my thing and save this damsel." He help Mona up to show Raph, whose expression instantly shifted to surprise.

"C'mon," Raphael replied, "we'll talk at April's like we were _supposed _to do an _hour _ago."

They made their way to the van, gently placing the still unresponsive Mona Lisa inside. Donatello made Leo drive so that he could check Michelangelo for wounds. Raphael stared at the mutant girl, but asked no questions, choosing not to pry until they were safe and sound.

"So…" Michelangelo joked on the way to April's, "can I keep her?"


	3. Mona Adapts

**Chapter 3: Mona Adapts**

** Because being turned into a giant humanoid lizard-thing would probably have quite the impact on most girls' self-esteem.**

After she burned her leg at the warehouse, time warped for Mona Lisa. Everything seemed to speed up, as though someone pressed the fast forward button for her life. Anything around her moved too fast for her to even react. First, there were ninjas and then a turtle, and then smoke and fire and pain.

"I'm dreaming…" she whispered to herself for the umpteenth time, "I… I…"

"Quite the extensive vocabulary she has, Mikey." One of the creatures remarked.

"Leave her be, Raphael." Another replied, "She's hurt and traumatized. All things considering, she's not actually freaking out as much as she could."

"Yeah, and at least she didn't scream in your face! I thought a pack of dogs was gonna swarm the warehouse after all the noise she made."

She was in the back of a van, unbeknownst to her, for the second time that night. Two turtles loomed over her, one that had saved her at the warehouse, and a different one wearing a purple mask. He was tending to her burned leg, making sure to take extra care and caution with the wound. Mona looked up at the other turtle and blurted out a "thank you." She looked to her rescuer and thanked him, as well. Though shocked and confused beyond all reasoning, Mona Lisa at least made a point to remember her manners.

"Don't worry," the purple-clad one reassured her, "We're going to take you somewhere safe."

Something about his words calmed Mona Lisa, if only a little bit. This one was trustworthy and gentle, someone she could talk to.

"What… what happened?"

"We, uh, we were hoping maybe you had more answers than we did. Heh, guess not." He replied.

"Why were the Foot there?!" One in the front seat suddenly (and aggressively) questioned her.

"The what? I don't know what you're talking abou—"

"I _told _you, Raph, she had nothing to do with the Foot Clan being there." Michelangelo interrupted. "It was that _majorly_ creepy Dr. Filch guy."

"Wait, wait, _the _Dr. Filch?" Purple mask piped up.

"Dr. _Phineas _Filch? He was _there_?" Mona suddenly sat up for the first time since she'd gone comatose in the warehouse. "I _work _with Dr. Filch! Well… actually, I work _for _him. I was pulling a late shift with him before…before…"

Everything came flooding back. Mona Lisa was not here, in the back of an armored van surrounded by mutant turtles. She remembered immediately accepting to work heaps of extra hours, despite a pile of homework waiting for her back in her apartment. She remembered staggering back into Dr. Filch's laboratory, waiting for her nightly excessive caffeine fix to kick in. She remembered her boss complimenting her talent in the art of genetics research, and requesting that she help with the new experiment.

Mona held up her hands. She was missing her pinky finger, and her hands were now green and webbed. For a few moments, she calmed herself in order to study her new body. Though she could still feel she had mostly humanistic features, including hair on her head, breasts, and mammalian genitalia, something had warped her DNA. Her underbelly was a bright yellow, her feet now had two stubby toes instead of five, and she felt something extending out from her spine…

As she sat up, she looked between her legs. Through the back of her best black slacks, a long tail had ripped through, now a part of her body. Tentatively, Mona picked it up and examined her additional limb. She ran her fingers down the sleek skin.

Michelangelo opened his mouth to say something, but Donatello uncharacteristically glared at his brother to shut him up. Being mutated from turtles, the four brothers always knew they were different, but did not have the self-awareness to observe first-hand how much their bodies had changed. Donatello knew that if this girl had any chance of adapting, she would need to thoroughly explore her new form _without _any snide remarks from Mikey or Raph.

Suddenly, the girl cried out, "_This _is what I've been working on? _This _is why Dr. Filch needed someone to perfect his formula? Why… why in the world would someone even _need _to do this?" Mona buried her face in her hands, muffling the sobs that now escaped from her mouth. All four brothers grimaced, unsure of how they could go about comforting her. Michelangelo attempted first.

"Hey, now," he told her, "Being a mutant isn't all that terrible."

Mona stiffened and let out another, even louder sob. Donatello shook his head at Mikey's words, and tried his hand at it, instead. "Obviously, something's going on here that none of us fully understand. Something's happened, something that's bigger than all of us. There are people involved that we all know, and we need to figure out _why_ they're involved in this—including you."

Finally, she looked up from her hands. Though she sniffled and still had tears in her eyes, Mona nodded in agreement with him. As upset as she was, the girl was not one to sit back and wallow in self-pity for very long. She was too stubborn, too proactive. Even under such strange and enormously life-changing circumstances, Mona Lisa knew she needed to buckle down and get to the bottom of things.

"But why me?" She asked, "What did _I_ have to do with any of this?"

"That's what we need to find out." Purple mask replied, "But first things first, let's get formalities out of the way, shall we? My name is Donatello, but you can call me 'Don.' And you are?" He stuck out a green, three-fingered hand. Cautiously, but not hesitantly, Mona Lisa accepted the handshake.

"My name is Mona Lisa. I usually just go by 'Mona,' though."

"That's funny that you share a name with a Renaissance painting," Donatello noted, "My brothers and myself were named after Renaissance artists. The one driving is Leonardo," a blue-masked turtle looked back from the driver's seat and acknowledged Mona. "The other in the front is Raphael, and the one who rescued you is Michelangelo."

The orange clad turtle smiled cheerily and waved at her. "Hey. It's nice to meetcha, heh, even if we did kinda start off on a weird foot. I forgive you for screaming in my face, though."

"Right," Mona Lisa wiped the last of her tears away, "sorry about that. I wasn't quite ready to handle such an… _odd _experience." English was never Mona's strongest subject, and she couldn't quite think of another adjective to describe everything that had happened tonight. "If I may ask… what happened to you four?"

"Well…" Donatello rubbed the back of his head as he began explaining their backstory, "my brothers and I didn't start out as humans. We were baby turtles that got dropped in the sewer along with some crazy experimental ooze. It mutated us into who we are today."

Mona Lisa leaned forward, getting right up in Don's face and invading his personal bubble. She'd caught him off guard, and startled the turtle just a bit, but Donatello could see she meant no harm, for she was only studying him, too. She was a fellow scientist, someone who also appreciated investigations and close observations of things in this universe. Mona had seen her fair share of amazing sights in the world, especially since working for Dr. Filch, but none so genetically fascinating as the four mutant turtles in this van.

She looked Donatello up and down for a few moments, finally taking in what was truly in front of her. What intrigued her most was the amount of muscle mass on his body. Never in her life had she seen someone his size, save for serious Olympic body-builders on television, possess that much muscle mass. These turtles weren't just mutants; they were seriously _fit _mutants, at that. In short, everyone riding in that turtle van was basically nothing short of a genetic phenomenon.

Raphael turned in the passenger seat and threw in his two cents. "So are you gonna tell us _your _story, or are ya gonna sit there all night checking out our brother?"

Embarrassed, Mona Lisa turned away and slouched a bit. "I'm sorry, it's just… I've never seen creatures quite like you. I was studying to be a geneticist, so this sort of thing just kind of… captivates me."

As a student, Mona Lisa had a reputation for being easily caught up in her work. The thing was, however, she _loved _being caught up in her work. Being in a laboratory full of beakers and vials and fellow scientists hard at work was right where she belonged. She never even minded paperwork; it was all just another part of her research. A naturally active curiosity had helped Mona thrive in school, since she never had much of a home life. Science had especially captured her interest, and over many years she acquired quite the impressive archive of knowledge, especially in the subjects of physics and genetics. She was also known to dabble in her fair share of astronomy.

"Don't mind Raphael." Donatello informed her. "But, to be fair, we only know one other mutant, and we've never met a female _or _someone who was originally human when they mutated. We honestly didn't think the ooze was capable of that and, yet here you are sitting in front of us."

"We're here." Leonardo parked in an alleyway by April's antique shop and looked back at them. "Let's talk more upstairs. Maybe by morning, we'll be able to piece together what exactly is going on."

"Morning?!" A sudden burst of panic hit Mona Lisa like a tidal wave. "I can't stay here until _morning_! I have a class at 9 am! I haven't even _started _on my Physics 304 homework! Oooh, Dr. Kim is gonna _kill _me! There's no _way_ I'll be able to get it all done before class today! Not to mention I _still _haven't turned in my report on heat capacity, and doyouknowhowharditistogetane xtensiononreportsfromDoctorK im? _Do you_?!" Now, she practically screamed at Donatello, and began hyperventilating after her fit.

"Call _me _the crazy one, but somethin' tells me you're not gonna make it out to your classes today, girlie." Raphael interrupted her.

Now, instead of hyperventilating, Mona Lisa stopped breathing altogether. She stared at Raphael with a wide-eyed expression none of the boys could quite peg. She looked as if she were contemplating strangling him for even suggesting such a possibility. Her left eye twitched just a little. Every brother instinctually prepared to defend themselves.

"Not…" she finally took a deep breath. "Not make it…out…to class?"

Before she _could _strangle the red clad turtle, though, Mona's eyes rolled to the back of her skull and she fainted. As her body went slack to the floor, Donatello caught her so as to avoid having to treat a concussion on top of dealing with a newly-mutated and traumatized girl complete with a leg injury.

"That girl," Raphael noted after she had passed out, "is _weird_."

-o-

Mona stirred slightly. She was resting on something soft and cushy, and had a warm blanket covering her body. As she opened her eyes, Mona could tell that this time she didn't wake up in a run-down warehouse or an armored van driven around by turtles. She was in a well-lit apartment on the living room couch.

Wait a minute…could this possibly be _her _apartment?

Sitting up, she groaned a little and stretched her limbs to wake up. With a yawn she said, "Maybe it _was _all a dream. Thank God I'm waking up in my own—"

When she opened her eyes, Mona Lisa saw four turtles sitting in lotus position on the carpet, staring back at her. In addition to them, there was also a humanoid rat and at least one normal human girl holding a tray of tea and coffee. Mona's face fell. "Oh. Guess not."

"Geez, sleeping beauty, don't look so pleased to see us." Raphael snapped.

Mona cocked an eyebrow at him. "Well, it's not exactly like I've been waking up in the most comfortable of places." She retorted.

The humanoid rat spoke to her this time. "Well, I hope this is more comfortable than where you have been. My sons have told me a little about your circumstances. I am sorry to see that this has happened to you and that you have had a run-in with our enemy."

At this point, she could only shrug off a giant talking rat. By now, Mona Lisa knew that if she began freaking out over every little thing, she'd die of a heart attack before lunchtime. She nodded at him to accept the apology, and sat up on the couch. The redhead walked over to her and offered her a cup from the tray.

"What's your poison?" She asked. "Tea or coffee?"

Mona Lisa tilted her head. The girl's face was oddly familiar, not the kind you really _knew_, but one you know you've seen fleeting images of; the kind you've noticed on TV or perhaps passing by you on the street every day. "Do I… know you from somewhere?"

"I don't think we've met personally, but my name's April. April O'Neil." She flashed a smile.

That was it! "I _have _seen you somewhere!" Mona remembered April briefly making an appearance on television, being interviewed about some newfangled, groundbreaking machine. "You used to work for Dr. Baxter Stockman before—"

"Be_fore _he went all crazy homicidal cuckoo psycho? Yeah that was me." April laughed. Now that some time had passed, she actually had an impressive sense of humor about her former boss. "Looks like we have something in common." She winked. "Now, you're a college student, so I _know _you must be craving a hot cup of coffee right now.

The offering of coffee sent a surge of relief through Mona Lisa. She had no idea what time it was, or when she'd last choked down an energy drink. Thanking the girl, she accepted the offer and picked a white mug filled with a dark beige-colored liquid, rather than the clear green drinks. Tea, though soothing, never had quite enough caffeine to satisfy Mona Lisa's fix. She sipped it, grateful that it didn't taste like bitter bean-water like the coffee she ordered daily in the student center.

The student center…the college… her _classes_! Once again, panic replaced relief. "What time is it?!" she cried out.

Donatello answered first. "Mona Lisa, think about everything that's just happened. You've been mutated and kidnapped by your boss. Our brother said that he was planning on handing you over to the Foot clan in exchange for something. I understand your classes are important to you, but don't you think it would be wiser to figure out what's going on? I think it would be more beneficial for you to stay in hiding for a bit… you know, for your safety. You can't exactly finish your education when you've got a plethora of crazy dangerous people who want to abduct you and possibly kill you."

Mona didn't want to swallow the idea of missing multiple classes, of basically putting her entire life on hold for this, but he was right. There was no way she could be out and about on the streets, now… not like _this_. She bit her lip, or whatever anatomy had formed in place of her lips and thought for a moment.

Her professors would find it more than strange that she was not in class today, especially considering Mona was semi-famous within the science department for once going to all her classes with a bucket and a violent case of the stomach flu. A few of them might even joke that since this would shatter her perfect attendance record, someone might as well go down to the police station and mark her as missing. Little did they know how right they would be…

Surprisingly, her home life was not as much of a worry. She had rent to pay, but who could penalize her for not paying rent when she could no longer live in her own apartment? Family and friends were of little to no concern. Both of her parents had died when she was a toddler, and she lived with an absentminded aunt on her mother's side that just barely met the standard of being not-crazy enough to take her in. Mona spent most of her life thriving in school and studying because she never really knew what else to do for fun. Shortly after she graduated high school, her aunt passed away, leaving a shockingly hefty inheritance to the young girl that she had not yet touched. She _had_ family, sure, but distant relatives who might as well have lived on the opposite side of the globe.

As for friends… it wasn't that Mona wasn't good at socializing. In fact, she was more than capable of being friendly, charming, and eloquent. She'd just never spent much time building connections with people due to grossly absorbing herself in any and all sorts of work.

How long would it be before someone even noticed she was missing? Mona came to the conclusion that people would only realize she was gone once her professors realized she had missed a few days of classes.

But there _was _at least one person she saw on a daily basis…

"Dr. Filch!" she yelled out, a realization finally hitting her. Mona quickly turned to the orange-masked turtle. "You said he brought me there, to those… those Feet people or whatever."

"The Foot clan." Leonardo corrected her.

"Yeah!" Michelangelo piped up. "They put you on a stretcher and took you inside to this table with all this science junk on it! I think they mighta been planning to dissect ya or somethi—"

Raphael practically tackled him to the ground and clamped a hand over his brother's big mouth. "_Quiet_, bonehead! Don't go sayin' stuff like that! You'll scare her again!"

"Di…dissect me?"

Why would her boss, who had always been so friendly toward her, want to put her in the hands of people who would knowingly mutilate her? The mere thought of being _that_ close to being cut open on a table, of being treated like a dead animal on a laboratory table, almost sent her into another sobbing fit.

"Ahem." A slight cough and a glare from the rat caused the brothers to stop fighting immediately, and they both scrambled to sit back up and resume lotus position. "My sons, _please _act with more grace when we have a guest, and when we are in someone else's home."

"Sorry sensei," they both mumbled, now keeping their heads down like scolded puppies. Mona had never seen a stranger sight, even counting the events of last night. Despite the circumstances, she couldn't help but stifle a giggle.

"Um, anyway… going back to something you said earlier," Donatello piped up next. "You mentioned something about perfecting a formula. What exactly were you and Dr. Filch working on before he…you know…" He preferred not to mention the kidnapping aloud, for fear of being insensitive.

Mona remembered when she first began working for Dr. Filch. Based on grades and accomplishments, he had hand-picked four college students, specifically genetics majors, and allowed interns to work in his lab for the first time. Immediately, he informed them that they would all be working on a special project, but Mona's boss had an infinite amount of secrets that he never even disclosed to her. None of the interns ever quite figured out what they were working on, and though it was frustrating, they didn't particularly care. Working under Dr. Filch was too important to scribble on their resumes for them to question anything.

And maybe the lack of questioning was exactly what had put her in danger.

"To be honest…I don't really know. Dr. Filch just kind of put us to work without telling us anything. I…I'm not even sure what the point of all this is _now_. I had no earthly idea there were substances that were even capable of doing things like this." She held up her hands for emphasis. None of the turtles looked the slightest bit shocked.

"Trust me, we've been dealing with this stuff our entire lives. Not even we really know its true capabilities." Donatello informed her. "_However_, we've also been dealing with the Foot clan for a while now, especially their leader, the Shredder. That's what we're interested in. Obviously, you have no idea who the Foot clan is, but the point is that they want you, now and _that's _the scary part."

"My brothers and I are taking it upon ourselves to make sure that you don't end up in the hands of the Foot or the Shredder." Leonardo chimed in. "And we also need to figure out why they're involved in this, and what your boss is up to. If it's anything involving the Foot clan, it can't be good."

Yesterday, if someone had walked up and told Mona Lisa that she would be spending her Wednesday morning conversing with mutant turtles about why she was now a humanoid lizard-salamander-thing, she would have considered checking them into a mental hospital.

Hell, if someone had informed her she'd be missing _classes_, she would have considered checking them into a mental hospital.

She sighed. Her optimistic nature would have to really shine for her to pull through. But there was a chance, even if only the slimmest, most near-impossible one, but as long as it remained a possibility, Mona _was _willing to work with these turtles and get to the bottom of things.

"I don't want to put my life on hold." She declared, "But… I also want to make sure that this doesn't happen to anybody else. If that means having to stop my boss and this… this Feet clan or whatever, then I will help you as much as I can."

Leonardo nodded at her and stood up. "Then it's settled. Welcome to the group, Mona Lisa." He put out his hand, the corners of his mouth turning up just a bit.

Mona Lisa took his handshake. "It...It feels good to be a part of it." She responded, smiling up at her new friend.


	4. Deals and Appeals

**Chapter 4: Deals and Appeals**

** For your convenience: a little backstory on Dr. Filch and his deal with the Shredder. Also, I had a hard time keeping a straight face at the phrase "those loathsome turtles."**

** Ps- "Garrett University" was made up for the sake of this story, if you were wondering, which I'm sure none of you were.**

Phineas Filch grew up in a small backwoods town where he spent most of his days hiding in the local library. He had first stumbled in one sunny July afternoon when the neighborhood bullies were chasing him down, shouting profanities and threats that he was, thankfully, too far away to hear. The boy had long, skinny legs that carried him surprisingly fast, especially when there were menacing, rough-and-tumble thugs chasing him down.

As a runty kid with glasses and a knack for schoolwork, he was naturally a notorious target. Even his reputation for being able to sprint faster than most of his classmates did not deter the bullies. If anything, this made him a decent challenge. Whoever managed to catch, or in most cases, successfully sneak up on Phineas Filch not only got to have a good whack at him, they could brag to the class that they'd caught the tiny nerd with a natural talent to easily access his "flight" response.

After weeks of being chased down, Phineas, fed up with the bullies hunting him down like some sort of helpless animal, decided he would need a sufficient hiding spot. But where, in this tiny backwoods mountain town, could he possibly hide from the perpetrators?

And that's when it hit him: he had never seen the neighborhood tormenters open a book before. Ever.

With that thought, he ran a ridiculous, hidden route every day after school to the local library so as not to be bothered.

The library was perfect. It was cool; it was quiet; it was surprisingly secluded. Phineas was free to finish his homework, read, and walk about as he pleased without worrying about who was going to pummel him next.

Sticking his nose in all those books for all those years helped him develop enough smarts to attend a nice college away from that one-horse town.

-o-

"Where are you taking me?!" Dr. Filch screamed as two Foot ninja dragged him down a dim hallway. After the incident at the warehouse, the Head Ninja ordered his subordinates to grab Dr. Filch and throw him into the van he'd driven down there. As it burned to the ground, they drove away before capturing the attention of any authorities. "Put. Me. _DOWN_!" He demanded.

"You are in _no _position to be taking orders, so stop your squabbling!" The Head Ninja snapped. "We are taking you to the boss. _He _will decide your fate from here. I would you suggest you show the utmost respect, lest you want your punishment to be even more painful."

"Punishment?!" Filch's eyes went wide. "I didn't do anything! I brought you your mutant, I showed you the formula, and I demand you—"

A sharp katana placed at his neck shut Dr. Filch up quickly. Even more nerve-racking was that the other two didn't even stop walking, and Head Ninja kept pace with them to keep his weapon there while they continued to drag him down the hallway. "I don't think you heard me correctly." He declared in a tranquil, but even more frightening tone. "Shut your mouth. Do not speak unless spoken to, and do _not _order us around. I suggest you don't mouth off like this to our master. Now don't make me repeat myself again, or there _will _be consequences." He sheathed his katana just before they reached their destination and the other two literally _flung_ Dr. Filch at the feet of the Shredder.

The man scrambled, struggling to get on his feet. Immediately, the Shredder stopped him. "Don't get up." He commanded. "Failures kneel."

Though Filch, out of sheer terror, stayed on his knees, he managed to respond with: "Fail? I did not fail you. I _brought_ the mutant, as promised."

"Oh you did, did you? And where exactly is it? Did you make this mutant invisible, as well?"

"Perhaps," the Doctor responded through gritted teeth, "you should ask the reckless brat you put in charge about what happened to my mutant."

Before anyone in the room could even blink, the Shredder had Dr. Filch by the collar, and yanked him close. "_Never _insult my Foot soldiers. Even the least-skilled of them could break every last bone in your pathetic body before you could be_gin_ to process the pain." He threw him back to the floor. However, he did make a point to turn to one of his soldiers and question him, as well. "Well? What happened?" He asked sharply.

The Head Ninja bowed his head before he spoke. "The Doctor did bring us a mutant, if an unconscious one. However, he also brought one of those loathsome turtles along with him."

The Shredder's face contorted into ugly anger. He turned quickly back to Filch. "What?! You fool! Your job was to keep the project hidden, _especially _from those turtles! And yet, you even managed to screw _that _up!"

"But…but…I was _sure _there was nobody following me! There's no possible _way _he could have—"

"They're _ninjas_, you bumbling idiot!" The Shredder spat. "I should have known you would mess up. I've never met a scientist that could do a job without screwing up in every possible way. It looks like our deal is done. Get him out of my sight."

"I have the formula!" Dr. Filch screamed in hopes that he could appease an angry Shredder. "Just let me do it again, I can create another mutant! Don't go back on our deal, _please_!" His tone had been reduced to begging. He no longer cared what happened to his other creation, as long as he was given just one more chance…

The Shredder paused for a moment. Another option occurred to him. Perhaps he _would_ show this man some mercy… in the worst possible way. He nodded down at Filch. "Very well." He replied, his reaction astounding everyone in the room. "You may create another mutant. If your formula works, as you say it does, then you will have your son back and we will both get what we want."

Filch held back tears. He swallowed to release the knot in his throat and nodded.

-o-

The girl's name was Sylvia Fox and she spent most of her time working in a small café near her school, Garrett University. It had a decent nursing program, and it was close to home (not to mention the school had actually _accepted _her, unlike the prestigious Ivy League schools she'd been hoping to attend), so Sylvia decided she'd finish off her schooling there. Though the workload could be stressful, and she was often sick due to a weakened immune system, Sylvia pushed through day by day, knowing that if she could just pass her damn classes, she might actually snag a real job and be able to live on her own.

The boy's name was Phineas Filch, and he spent most of his time sitting in that small café where Sylvia worked, either studying or trying—in vain, of course—to capture the attention of the cute barista he had a humongous crush on. Unfortunately, the boy was also shy beyond all reason and girls, especially very pretty girls, made him curl up even farther into his theoretic shell.

_Today_. _Today for sure_. He would walk in the café, absolutely certain that _every_ day was the day he would ask out the attractive coffee girl, who was also skilled at making a fantastic cup of caramel macchiato. Most days, though, he sat in the corner, engrossed in his textbooks and studying before, finally, Phineas would realize he had someplace to be, and would stumble awkwardly out of the café, too fearful of rejection to even go near the girl.

_Tomorrow_. _Tomorrow for sure_.

Sylvia took notice of the boy only because he came in faithfully every day at lunchtime, and when his classes were over. Unaware of his other motivations for hanging around, she admired his work ethic, and after watching him study nonstop for hours, would vow to focus more on her own studies.

One day, they actually spoke.

"Peppermint mocha, please." Said Phineas.

"Oh? That's different from your usual order." Sylvia noted, smiling a bit at their regular.

"Yeah."

_Say something else_. Phineas thought furiously at himself. _Say_. _Something_. _Else_!

But the words wouldn't come. Something about the girl—the way her shoulder-length blonde hair flipped up perfectly at the ends, the way her huge green eyes gave her a fierce, piercing stare, the way one eyebrow always seemed slightly raised inquisitively—kept the already timid nerd-boy from forming any sort of speech. He kept his mouth clamped firmly shut.

However, on this particular day, Phineas _did _gather up the smallest bit of courage, even if it took him hours to do so. Besides ordering a different drink, he stayed longer than usual, even skipping a physics club meeting to wait until everyone had left the coffee shop—everyone except the barista in charge of closing the shop.

When Sylvia noticed Phineas still sitting at his table, firmly concentrating on odd charts and graphs laid out in front of him, she apologized and told him she needed to close down the café for the night.

Phineas seemed shocked that she made words to him. However, he responded politely by nodding and gathering his school supplies.

She led him to the door, but before they left, the boy turned around and opened his mouth to say something to her. He was close, so _close_, but his thoughts scattered and his vocal chords threatened to fail him. A bewildered Sylvia stared back, her confused expression causing the boy to turn red. Phineas thought of chemistry, of algebraic equations and physics formulas to calm himself down. Quantum mechanics was far less intimidating than attractive girls could ever be.

"You're, S-Sylvia, right?" he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Mhm."

"I just… It's just that I see you work here and, um…I know we haven't spoken a whole lot, but I think you're cute and I, um, I like your smile and I just would really like to take you out on a date, uh…you know, if you _want _to, and so, um…would you…like to go out for coffee sometime or something?"

Upon hearing the phrase "go out for coffee," Sylvia looked around the café. Phineas blushed again, but she shot him a good-natured smile and shrugged it off. "Sure."

Sylvia closed down the café, and the two spent the evening enjoying a long overdue chat with each other.

-o-

For most of his career, Filch worked for a private government unit in a branch known only to the public as "TGRI." He was quite well known for being a bright, innovative thinker and well-respected within the company. However, after the death of his son, he disappeared for a bit. Somehow, though, he came back months later with the funds and means to start his own researching facility, and became even more well-known. The media urged him to share his research, and there were conspiracy theories abound.

None of them, however, ever truly pegged what was _really _going on within Filch's research facility.

His beloved wife, Sylvia died shortly after giving birth to their son, Ezra. He was a winter baby, small and frail and prone to sickness (much like his mother). Arriving prematurely, he weighed very little, and Filch held him close when he was finally allowed, cradling his son and promising to keep him safe from all the world's dangers.

He could not, however, promise the same to Sylvia, who caught a terrible case of viral pneumonia that led to her death. Phineas mourned her, but pulled through in order to take care of his son.

Just like his father, Ezra grew up to be bright and curious, with a particular interest in the sciences. Even during his teenage years, which came complete with all the awkward body issues and powerful mood swings the boy could handle, the two got along fairly well, and made a well-known father-son team. Together, their discoveries could change the world.

Then, disaster struck.

-o-

The Shredder had locked Dr. Filch in a laboratory with what he needed to remake the formula. Night had long since passed, and even though Filch had no idea what time it was, he knew he had gone an entire night without sleep and that he was tired. He spent many a lonely, sleepless night in laboratories, so this was really nothing new.

So he pushed through. For his science partner. For Ezra.

As the Head Ninja, whom Filch heard the Shredder briefly refer to as, "Taro" dragged him down the hallway, he hissed through his teeth, "Be happy our master was feeling merciful today. Any other time and he would have cut out for eyes for your incompetence."

Filch couldn't stand the brat, but he was also unwillingly terrified, and too cowardly to respond back. Though angry, he was still aware the boy _could _dole out hefty damage if provoked, and Dr. Filch wished to keep all of his limbs intact. Besides, the boy's opinion meant nothing to him, and he could squawk as much as he pleased. As long as Filch got what he wanted out of the bargain, he would move somewhere far away, cutting all ties with the Shredder and abandoning New York forever.

Taro watched as the doctor created more ooze. The poor fool had no idea what was in store for him, and that the Shredder was showing his own form of cruel, twisted "mercy." Still, he couldn't wrap his head around Filch's loyalty to a dead son. Attachments seemed so pointless to him. But if Filch was willing to do what he said he would do, it meant they could finally have an opportunity to destroy the turtles, spelling out victory for the Foot Clan. And, yet, his curiosity was getting the best of him.

"Why do you work so hard for someone who isn't even alive?"

"Because," Filch stopped working only for a brief moment, "Your master promised me that if I could create superhuman mutants for you that my son could, theoretically, be brought back to life."

"Do you believe him? Our master isn't lying, of course, he _could _easily bring your son back from the dead, but as a man of science I would have pegged you to be more… skeptical." Taro replied.

Dr. Filch swallowed the lump in his throat before responding. "Of course I'm skeptical. But I've seen science do amazing things. I brought you a _mutant lizard girl _for goodness sake! And besides…" the doctor shook his head, "This deal between your master and I is the only thing that gives me hope, now. Without my wife or my son, there's nothing else this world has to offer me."

Taro scoffed at the man's words.

-o-

Phineas Filch once received an odd phone call at three in the morning. After forcing his eyes open, he answered it groggily on the last ring.

And the second the phone call was over, he rushed to put on his clothes and drove like a madman out to the hospital.

Ezra was a good boy, incredibly bright and mature for his age. Phineas adored him, and cherished the amazing relationship he had with his son. Even during Ezra's teenage years, the father-son duo got along famously. It also helped that they were both quiet men who didn't like confrontation.

On the verge of hyperventilating, a desperate Phineas Filch burst into the emergency room, demanding to know where they'd taken Ezra. Before a group of exhausted nurses could even tell him to calm down, one of the doctors came walking out, his head held solemnly down.

"I'm afraid," he declared calmly while wiping his brow, "your son didn't make it."

At exactly 3:48 am in Grover County Hospital's emergency room, Phineas Filch lost it.

-o-

Ezra Filch died while driving on his way home from a party under the influence. It was out of character for the boy to make such a stupid decision. So stupid, in fact, that Filch refused to believe his son could make such a poor misjudgment, and blamed his death on his friends, his girlfriend, and everybody at the party. He seethed at the funeral, unable to subtly contain his raging bitterness.

His will to live ceased to exist. Phineas quit his job and practically went into hiding. He cried; he drank; he wailed to the heavens, asking why it had to be _his _son and not some filthy vagrant nobody would miss. He threw things at walls; he trashed his house; he stopped keeping any sort of proper eating and sleeping schedules.

It was in this time period that the Shredder got wind of Dr. Filch quitting working for TGRI due to the tragedy that struck. He saw an amazing opportunity. Death was nothing, if not a mere _obstacle _for the Shredder, who personally convinced Phineas Filch that his son could be brought back to this earth alive and well, on the condition that Filch could create an ooze to mutate humans into powerful animal hybrids. He gave Dr. Filch the resources to start his own laboratory, and waited for the man to perfect his formula, so that he could create a whole new clan—a new clan to destroy the ninja turtles.

"So what do you say?" the Shredder had asked after he proposed the deal. Not that it mattered; if Filch had refused, the Shredder would have either had him killed on the spot, or threatened him into making a new formula.

Luckily for Phineas Filch, he agreed, and made a deal with the Shredder that would change the life of a clever and courageous, but very unsuspecting college student named Mona Lisa Gerardini.


	5. Horrifying Surprises

**Chapter 5: Horrifying Surprises**

** Not much action in this chapter. Mostly just a few "OH SHIT" moments.**

Mona Lisa couldn't remember the last time she'd had a proper breakfast. Mostly, she just drank a whole bunch of coffee in the morning. On rare occasions, the girl might've treated herself to a hot pocket, or leftover pizza or something along those lines, but the idea of actually cooking out a whole meal when there was work to be done seemed pointless.

But as she stared at the mouth-watering food in front of her, the fried eggs, the crispy bacon and sausage links, the shredded hash browns and the perfectly golden-brown toast, Mona thought twice, and figured maybe breakfast wasn't so pointless after all.

_So much better than leftover Chinese_. The girl thought, gently scraping the eggs onto her toast. On top of that, Mona was on her third cup of coffee, and couldn't help but start perking up. She pushed her classes to the back of her mind and tried to concentrate on the meal. If she thought too hard about the possibilities in her future, she might start to cry again, and avoided thinking of college at all costs.

Fortunately, loud chewing and garbling sounds kept Mona from being able to hear her own thoughts very well. "You're the _best_, April. This is amazing!" Michelangelo kept putting away food like it was nothing. Mona Lisa had never seen anyone eat like that and, frankly, she could have done without the image of a humanoid turtle shoving meat and potatoes in his mouth.

"Ugh, Mikey slow down! At least _chew _your food! And save some for the rest of us!" Donatello complained, hoarding three eggs before Michelangelo could inhale those, too.

Mikey scoffed. "I can't help it! I'm a growing boy! Besides, I need the nutrition so my body can heal." He pointed to his wrapped up calf before biting into another piece of bacon.

"Right," Raphael stabbed a fork into a sausage link on Michelangelo's plate and promptly scarfed it down before his brother could protest, "Because you've _never _been injured before, you dope."

"I'm just saying!" Mikey threw his hands up in mock exasperation before pointing over to Mona. "Who had to save the damsel in distress last night? Oh, right, that was _me_: the brave and mighty Michelangelo!"

"Ex_cuse _me, I am _not _a damsel in distress!" Mona protested. _Heh_, _kidnapped once and all of a sudden you're the designated damsel_…

Mikey flashed a good natured smile at her, which might have been more charming if he didn't have flecks of egg stuck between his teeth. "Aw, I was just kidding. It happens to the best of us. I can't even _tell _you how many times I've had to save _Raph's _shell." He pointed to his brother.

Raphael let out a low growl. "Mikey, don't even get me started this morning." He bared his teeth like an angry animal, much different from the goofy smile his brother was making.

"What's the matter, Raph? Embarrassed 'cause you've had to be rescued by the delegated goofball so many times? Or did I just catch ya in a bad mood?"

"Mikey, I'm warnin' ya…"

"I mean, not like it's _hard_ or anything to catch you in a bad moo—"

"_That's it_!" For the second time that morning, Raphael tackled Michelangelo to the ground, and the two rolled around pummeling each other and knocking into furniture galore. Donatello nonchalantly picked up his plate and Mona Lisa's and held them off the table to avoid food spills. With less grace, Mona scrambled to grab her coffee cup so none of the precious liquid could spill out.

Just by watching them, Mona could not tell who was the more skilled fighter. They matched fairly evenly, with Michelangelo having the advantage in speed and reflexes, and Raphael having more brute stamina. She _did _remember them mentioning something about being ninjas…

"So… exactly how experienced are you guys? In fighting, I mean. You seem like you could knock a human blackbelt flat on the floor without a problem." She noted.

"Well, I don't know about all _that_." Donatello smiled at the compliment. "But we are all decently skilled when it comes to fighting." Personally, Mona thought the word "decently" was probably the biggest overstatement he could have used. "Our Master Splinter taught us everything we know about ninjutsu. He's even more experienced than we are! To be honest, he can wipe the floor with all of us, no problem." Donatello laughed as he set her plate back down. The brawling brother duo had moved far enough away to where it was safe to eat again.

The rat? _He _taught them everything they knew? The aging rodent humanoid that was barely four feet tall could take on all four of these insanely tough-looking turtles and _win_?

As a scientist, Mona Lisa had seen some _strange _things in laboratories, but this backstory took the cake. At this point, she would have hardly been surprised if Donatello had informed her they could also shoot laser-beams from their eyes, sprout wings, and shoot blue fire from their hands. Never before had she shrugged off this many oddities in her life, and she had a lingering feeling that she was going to have to get used to these oddities, and _quickly_.

"It's all a little hard to take in, isn't it?" April laughed from the kitchen. She must have caught at least a trace of bewilderment on Mona's face. "I couldn't really believe it the first time I heard it, either. You can't even imagine how much weirder things I've seen since they've shown up!"

"Yeah, we've seen it all!" Michelangelo piped up while still wrestling Raphael. "Aliens, parallel dimensions, sentient robots—_hey_!" The turtle protested as his brother successfully took advantage of his distraction and pinned him to the floor.

Raph smirked. He had Michelangelo in a strong camel clutch, and the loser couldn't do much else but flail around pointlessly on the floor. Good thing, too. He _hated _losing to Michelangelo in brawls and training. As much of a sore loser as Raphael was, Michelangelo was an even worse winner. No doubt if he had lost this match, he'd never hear the end of it. Plus there was a lady present, and no way was he _ever _going to lose with a cute girl watching.

Wait a second. Raph shook his head to dispose of the thought. Girls had _nothing _to do with his fighting style; he was just more skilled than his brother and that was that.

He stood up. As Mikey also moved to stand, Raph stomped his shell just hard enough to fall back to the floor with an "_ooph_!" "Heh, hope you learned your lesson, little bro." He finished smugly, sauntering back over to the table. "Excuse my idiot brother." Raphael said to Mona Lisa as he sat down. "He's got no table manners."

Mona smiled coyly at him. "If I recall correctly, _you _were the one who tackled him to the ground."

"Hey now," The aggressive one defended himself, "I wouldn't have to tackle him to the ground if he would just keep his trap shut and not provoke me."

Donatello raised an eye ridge at him. "And this would have absolutely nothing to do with your raging temper, now would it, Raphael?"

"Hey! Do I have to tackle you, and teach _you _a lesson, Donnie?"

Donatello shook his head and sipped some more tea. "That won't be necessary, Raph."

Their antics amused Mona. She wasn't used to seeing siblings interact with each other, and it was rather nice to be a part of a family sit-down meal. She smiled in spite of herself, absentmindedly pushing her food around the plate with her fork. Was this what it was like to be part of a family? Part of a large group of friends? For a moment, she reminisced about physics club meetings, which was the closest she came on a weekly basis to interacting socially with like-minded people.

For a moment, she turned her attention to the fire escape to observe Leonardo and Splinter. The eldest brother (which she discerned based on their behavior) seemed particularly close to his father, although Mona could tell they all cherished him highly. At the very least, they had far more respect for him than she ever did for her absentminded aunt who usually wasn't even capable enough to remember to cook dinner.

Donatello's voice snapped her back to reality. "So, I figure tonight we should sneak to where you live so that you can grab extra clothes. You, uh, probably don't want to be wearing those forever." He pointed to her work attire, black slacks and a wrinkled white button-up under a torn black blazer.

Mona Lisa had been wearing this outfit since her mutation, and it no longer fit her. In the past 20 hours, she had grown wider at the shoulders and much, much larger regarding her thighs. She looked back sheepishly, examining the enormous hole in her pants caused by her tail. They were starting to split badly and, despite her new form, Mona still blushed inwardly at the idea of walking around completely naked.

"We should also sneak back into Dr. Filch's laboratory and see if we can find something useful." Donatello continued. "I'm _sure _he had to have kept at least a few files on hand that will help us figure out what's going on. The sooner we can do that, the sooner we can help you get your life back to normal."

Mona smiled and nodded in agreement. Even if their own enemies were involved, she appreciated that these strangers were going out of their way to help her.

-o-

It was decided after breakfast that only one turtle needed to accompany Mona to her apartment and grab anything that could still fit her. Originally, Donatello had been assigned this task, since he and Mona seemed to get along the best. Leonardo had put himself in charge of leading Michelangelo and Raphael to the laboratory to meet up with Don and Mona later. However, after a tense argument broke out between the stubborn Leo and the hot-tempered Raph just before it was time to leave, Splinter assertively declared that the two needed to split up and cool off.

And that was how Raphael ended up in the girl's room, having to wait irritably while she re-tried on all of her clothes.

They crawled in through the fire escape, taking extra care not to be seen. Mona turned on only her desklamp and closed the blinds before opening all of her drawers and placing everything in her closet on the bed, immediately placing her work blouses on the side. If this one didn't fit, there was no way any other ones would fit. She looked up at Raphael, who was now sitting on the desk chair.

"Uh, hey, can you turn around?"

Raphael went wide-eyed. Normally, clothes meant nothing to him, but the idea that he'd forgot to even turn around was embarrassing. Though he could be infamously insensitive, Raphael Hamato was certainly not a _pervert_. He almost scrambled to turn around and kept his head down toward the desk.

Now, Mona raised an eyebrow at him. _Weirdo_. She thought to herself, pulling off her blouse and pants.

Almost nothing in her wardrobe could fit her very well in this body. The best she could choose from were oversized sweaters and a few dresses she owned. As for pants, she was limited to her extensive collection of sweats. At least it was something.

Impatiently, Raph sighed. There was nothing on the desk to occupy his time besides overcomplicated physics notes. _Heh, Donnie'll go crazy when finds out this chick's a total _nerd _girl_. He should have pegged it from the way she hyperventilated at the thought of missing class. "Are you done yet?"

"Excuse me, I didn't come with a convenient _shell_ and I'd like to at least have _something _covering me up." She snapped back.

Raphael rolled his eyes. Why did this girl care so much what she was wearing anyway? Honestly, she was a mutant, now. She could put makeup on and dress herself up in nice clothes but she was _still a mutant_. It wasn't like she could go waltzing around anymore showing off cute outfits and modeling them for the public.

Girls were weird, and this one was no exception.

"Alright, I'm ready." Mona Lisa finally grumbled when she'd finished. After putting on new clothes and figuring out what still fit, she put everything else back in its rightful place so it wouldn't looked like she had run away just in case the police came searching through.

" It's about ti—" Raphael went speechless for the briefest of moments when he turned around and saw Mona in a black sweater dress with a turtleneck collar. It still fit her, alright, but it hugged her new form much more tightly than he assumed it did on her human body.

Alright, fine the girl was _cute_, especially by mutant standards. He would even go so far as to say she was sort of… pretty, for a lizard girl. Not that the volatile turtle would ever admit it out loud.

"I didn't take _that _long." Mona Lisa insisted, crossing her arms.

Any opinion of cuteness vanished from Raph's mind when she reopened her mouth. "Whatever, let's go. They're probably waiting for us at the lab." He turned off the desklamp and moved out the window onto the fire escape.

Mona sighed. Was this guy for real? She'd never met someone with so little patience, and his irritability would rub off on her soon if she didn't perk herself back up. With the slightest huff, she picked up her clothes and followed him out the window.

-o-

Three turtles stood atop the roof of the building which contained much of Filch's laboratory. Leonardo stood at the edge, staring intently down at the city. Donatello and Michelangelo sat behind him, occupying themselves by fiddling with their weapons. Leo had been rather agitated after his fight with Raphael, and neither of the two wanted to mess with him at this time.

"What's taking them so long? He should have been here by now." Leo noted, barely attempting to hide his irritation.

Both chose not to respond. Donatello didn't even point out that Leo wasn't nearly as irritated the previous night when Mikey was late meeting them at April's, and knew he was only being so pissy because Raphael had mouthed off (again). Besides, Mona Lisa was with him, and it was highly unlikely that Raphael was the slower of the two…

"There's no hurry." Donnie finally said. "We're just here to get some information."

"But the quicker they _get _here, the quicker we can start _looking_."

"They're right there, dudes!" Michelangelo pointed to the next building over.

Raphael gave himself a running start, and easily hopped over to them. Mona, however, looked a little more nervous and hesitant. She gulped as she looked at the length between the buildings. Were they really expecting her to make _that _jump? She'd fall to her death instantly!

"C'mon, we ain't got all day!" Raphael yelled over. "Besides, we got things to do, and you've already made it over a few rooftops!"

The other three brothers looked slightly impressed. Never would they have immediately pegged Mona as the athletic type, which she really wasn't.

In their trip there, Mona discovered how much power her legs now held. It was no surprise that her thighs were larger, but it wasn't from fat. The mutation had given her an impressive amount of muscle mass, and she discovered that she could do athletic feats that would have been near-impossible in her human form. She took a deep breath and braced herself, sprinting over to the edge, and leaping at the last possible second.

Mona refused to look down. First of all, it would only make her panic. Secondly, she knew more than enough about physics to know the power from her jump would easily carry her to the other building.

Now, her only problem was landing.

She crash-landed with a loud "_oof_!" and fell forward, catching herself with her hands and rolling over a few feet. _Why_, on this out of all nights, did she really choose to wear her nicest _sweater dress_? The girl stood up and brushed herself off, quickly pulling the dress back down to her knees. On this night, she didn't particularly feel like flashing anyone.

Her burned leg throbbed intensely, but she did her best to show no obvious signs of pain. Later, she could get Donatello to nurse it in private, as he seemed the least likely of the four to call her out for being a wimp. As for now, she _especially _didn't want to show pain in front of Raphael, who would might or might not have called her a big lizard baby or something. She wanted to prove that she could be as rough-and-tumble as the boys, and certainly would _not _play the role of designated damsel in distress.

"Are you alright? That was one shell of a landing." Michelangelo joked.

Mona blushed. "Yeah, I'll be fine. As much as I'd hate to start getting used to it, this new mutant body is actually pretty handy."

"Well, still try to be careful." A concerned Leonardo piped up. "Your legs might be more powerful than they were in your human form, but you're still technically injured, and I don't want us to be responsible for hindering your recovery."

"She's _fine_," Raphael gave her an affectionate slap on the back as he walked by. "You shoulda seen the way she was hoppin' up to fire escapes when she found out she could actually _jump_."

"It's not surprising." Donatello said. "The ooze is capable of completely changing a person's genetic code, even if you've already been exposed to it. We've, uh… we've had quite a few run-ins with it…" he admitted sheepishly. "Not even I'm really sure what all it can do."

They made their way into the building, with Mona Lisa leading the brothers around the laboratory. She guessed if they were going to find something, the first place to look would be the tenth floor, the genetics lab. During her internship, she'd spent most of her time here, mostly filing reports, but occasionally getting to do important lab work.

Donatello was in charge of picking locks to doors and drawers, while the other three were supposed to check for security cameras. Mona would point them out before they entered the rooms, and Leo, Raph, or Mikey would knock them out so as not to be caught. Actually, Mona sort of _enjoyed _sneaking around the lab. Never in her life had she been able to indulge in any mischievous activities, and playing ninja was kind of… _fun_.

_Mona Lisa: Secret Mutant Ninja Detective at your service_. She thought playfully.

On the other hand, Michelangelo and Raphael became very bored very quickly. After an hour of searching in vain, they complained that the mission was starting to become pointless.

"We're in a thirteen story building owned by a man who's famous for being notoriously private, _and _we know now he was tampering with stuff he obviously wasn't supposed to be tampering with. Did you guys really think we were going to walk in and clues were going to be nicely laid out for us?" Donatello pointed out.

"I'm just saying what if there's nothing here? What if we search the building inside out and find nothing? It'll just be a huge waste of time. I mean, we could be at home playing video games or something and waiting for the Shredder to make _his _move." Mikey pointed out.

"If we need to search the building inside and out, then we will search the building inside and out, even if we don't find anything." Leo asserted.

Mikey groaned, but continued to follow them.

"Wait a second!" Something finally hit Mona. "There was only one room none of the interns were ever allowed access to. If Dr. Filch was really hiding something, he would keep it in someplace that only _he _could enter. Come on, it's in the basement."

Since the elevator was shut off for the night, they all made their way down the stairs, Mona and Donatello in front. Even if she weren't leading, though, they might have eventually found the suspicious room themselves, for the door had a large white sign that read "DO NOT ENTER" in enormous red letters. Donatello kneeled and went to work picking the lock.

He struggled for a few minutes. "This one is a lot harder than the others. Whatever's back here, Dr. Filch obviously wanted to make certain that nobody else saw it."

And when the lock finally clicked and the door opened, everyone could see why.

There were huge tubes filled with translucent green liquid and creatures that obviously weren't naturally made. They slept quietly, floating almost peacefully in the bubbling ooze. Lizards with arms growing out of their stomachs, frogs with human faces, and other mutated monstrosities were curled up inside the tubes. None of them looked alive, but they didn't look quite dead, either.

"Hey, what the shell is that _smell_?" Mikey complained, waving his hand in front of his face.

They all turned to a table on the left, hidden away in the corner. One of the creatures was strapped down with a leather belt, its abdomen cut neatly open. Medical tools were arranged carefully on the side, cleaned and looking oddly as though they had never been used (which was obviously not the case).

It was all too much. Mona opened her mouth, the shrillest of noises about to escape her throat, when Donatello sprang into action and clamped his hand over the bottom half of her face. "_Please_," he begged, "_don't _scream. Whatever you do, you have to _promise _not to _scream_."

Hesitantly, she nodded, her head movements almost robotic. Her eyes were still wide with horror as Donnie tentatively pulled his hand away.

"Sick." Raphael spat. "Totally freakin' sick."

"Let's see what we can find and just get out of here." Leo instructed. "I don't wanna be here any longer than we have to."

With extreme caution and reluctance, they all explored the room further to find more clues.

-o—

Night had fallen once more, and it had officially been more than 24 hours since Dr. Filch had gotten any sleep. Once he had re-created the ooze, Taro snatched the vial from him and locked him in his workroom, carrying the stuff out to his master without a word. Filled with anger and confusion, Filch banged on the door for a bit after Taro had left the room, demanding to know why he'd been locked away.

After he bloodied his knuckles pounding on the door, Filch finally gave up and slumped down to the floor in defeat.

Perhaps, he considered in hindsight, it wasn't the wisest decision to make a deal with a supervillain, after all.

A few hours later, Taro reopened the door. By now, Filch had fallen asleep on the floor, and the ninja roughly pushed his foot into the man's ribcage a couple times to awaken him. "Get up. The master has something to show you." Before Filch could fully wake up, the ninja yanked him to his feet by the collar of his lab coat and led him down more hallways.

Filch did his best not to utter an unfriendly string of curses under his breath. Instead, he opted to curse the brat out in his head.

When they reached their destination, Filch noticed the Shredder standing at a lab table with the new creature covered, again, in a large white cloth. Taro locked the doors behind them.

"Well," the Shredder said, making no attempt to hide his mocking shocked tone, "you weren't actually lying. The formula _was _a success." He turned to the creature, which was now sitting up. It blinked slowly, looking over at the two of them.

The doctor squinted his eyes… wait a minute. A pair of huge brown eyes stared back at him, and there was something… _off _about this creature. No… something _familiar_…

He quickly removed his glasses and wiped them with his lab coat. This had to be some sort of trick! A total hoax! There was no way on this earth the mutant on the table could have possibly been…

"Ezra?" the doctor whispered in disbelief, staring in awe at Shredder's new mutant or, rather, his _son_…


End file.
